The almanac

Today is Monday, Aug. 5, the 217th day of 2013 with 148 to follow.

The moon is waning. Morning stars are Jupiter, Mars, Mercury, Neptune and Uranus. Evening stars are Saturn and Venus.

Those born on this date are under the sign of Leo. They include French novelist Guy de Maupassant in 1850; poet and critic Conrad Aiken in 1889; film director John Huston in 1906; actor Robert Taylor in 1911; astronaut Neil Armstrong, first man to step on the moon, in 1930; basketball Hall of Fame member Patrick Ewing in 1962 (age 51); hockey Hall of Fame member Herb Brooks in 1937; actors John Saxon in 1936 (age 77), Loni Anderson in 1945 (age 68), Maureen McCormick in 1956 (age 57), Tawny Kitaen in 1961 (age 52) and Jonathan Silverman in 1966 (age 47); and Rock and Roll Hall of fame member Adam Yauch (Beastie Boys) in 1964.

On this date in history:

In 1833, Chicago, with a population of about 200, was incorporated as a village.

In 1858, after several unsuccessful attempts, the first telegraph line across the Atlantic Ocean was completed.

In 1861, U.S. President Abraham Lincoln signed into law the first federal income tax. A wartime measure, it was rescinded in 1872.

In 1957, Dick Clark's "American Bandstand" began airing nationally.

In 1962, Marilyn Monroe died of an overdose of barbiturates. She was 35.

In 1963, the United States, Britain and the Soviet Union signed a treaty outlawing nuclear tests in Earth's atmosphere, in space or under the sea.

In 1974, U.S. President Richard Nixon admitted ordering the Watergate investigation halted six days after the break-in. Nixon said he expected to be impeached.

In 1981, U.S. President Ronald Reagan began firing 11,359 air-traffic controllers striking in violation of his order for them to return to work. The executive action, regarded as extreme by many, significantly slowed air travel for months.

In 1991, Iraq admitted it misled U.N. inspectors about secret biological weapons and also admitted extracting plutonium from fuel at a nuclear plant.

In 1994, opponents of Fidel Castro clashed with police in Havana and thousands of Cubans took to the high seas trying to reach the United States.

In 2003, U.S. Episcopal officials approved election of the church's first openly gay bishop, V. Gene Robinson of New Hampshire.

In 2007, U.S. President George W. Bush signed into law a bill to allow government eavesdropping of telephone conversations and email of U.S. citizens and people overseas without a warrant if there's "reasonable belief" that one party isn't in the United States.

In 2009, former U.S. Rep. William Jefferson, D-La., was convicted on 11 counts of conspiracy, bribery, wire fraud, money laundering and racketeering for allegedly helping U.S. firms arrange business deals in Africa.

In 2010, the U.S. Senate cleared the way for Solicitor General Elena Kagan to become the newest member of the Supreme Court when it voted 63-37 to confirm her nomination by President Barack Obama. She was sworn in two days later to succeed retiring John Stevens.

In 2011, the Thai Parliament overwhelmingly chose Yingluck Shinawatra, sister of a former prime minister, to be the nation's first female head of government.

In 2012, a gunman shot six people to death, wounded four others, then killed himself at a Sikh temple in Oak Creek, Wis.

A thought for the day: Soviet dictator Joseph Stalin said, "You cannot make a revolution with silk gloves."